Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1973-10-10 262 AA ORDER262 AA Introduced by Councilor Needham, Cctober 10, 1973 CITY OF BANGOR (TITLE.) Mrbff, ......R%poct of.thd Rental. resting.G®m.ittee _._ .. By the City Cml of the City of Bentsen ORDERED, THAT the report of the Rental housing Comsittee on file in the office of the City Clerk is hereby accepted. IN CITY COUNCIL 262 AA October 10, 1973 Peeved. O ROER Tr CLERK Title, Reyo�5 of xne, penial, xousinq Committee / introduced and filed by REPORT AND RECOMMENDATMIT3 Or RENTAL HOUSING COMMITTEE October 9, 1973 Since August 27th when the Rental Housing Committee was formed, your Committee has spent nearly 20 hews In session, not to mention the hews each of us has spent on his own. Two public hearings were held on September 17 and October 1. At the public hearings, the Committee was supplied with written presentations and data from many sources. In addition, the Committee has met several times in Executive Session to review the material presented and formulate recommendations for the Council. Most of the material which the Committee received, together with the transcript of public hearings, has been reproduced and Is submitted together with this report for your review. Among the materials which are not provided with this report Is Information provided by the deeper Tenants Union Involving approximately 400 calls they have received since the first of this year regarding rental proWems. The Committee has reviewed all of this material and provided you with a summary of the information contained therein. Report and Recommendations of Rental Housing Committee 10/9/73 2 Since our Committee did not have the resources or time available, our report is at best an overview of the present rental housing situation in Bangor. As a Committee, we feel that the Impressions gained during the past month are valid, although In many cases we were not able to qualify or document the problems to the extent that we would have liked. When Dow Air Force Mae closed several years ago add approximately 1,100 units of housing were made available to this community, there were fears expressed that such a substantial block of housing would depress the local real estate market. The problem facing the City at that time was how to absorb over night an approximate twenty-five percent (25%) Increase of rental units over those then available in the City. A plan was devised and over night the units were utilised as the military made them available for the local market. The experience of Capehart would tend to indicate that there was then and there is now a shortage which is reflected in a continuing demand for more rental housing in Bangor and the surrounding area. It appears that certain groups of potential renters who find It difficult to locate rental housing are identifiable, as follows: (1) A substantial number of the complaints of too high rentals and exorbitant rental Increases came from people who cannot afford to pay a rent which would represent a fair return for the landlord Involved. Many people who fall into this category are forced to live in sub- standard housing, because there is insufficient public or subsidized housing available to them. Report and Recommendations of Rental Housing Comm! tee 10/9/93 3 (2) Many other people seeking rental houslrg, while concerned about the cost of housing, are more concerned about the unavailability of of housing, especially among young families with children, large families, single people, and people with pets. (3) Finally there were several complaints Involving rental increases during the past year, some ranging between 30 - 50% and and a few in excess of 100%. Such occurances appeared to be isolated, but a few certainly, would bear further Investigation to determine If they were justified. During the past five years, our City Code Enforcement Department has had a two -fold objective. First was to accomplish a complete inspection of all the housing units in the City, while secondly, carrying on the enforce- ment of our various codes and ordinances. The first objective was made necessary in order to qualify our Workable Program to be eligible for federal funding. It would appear that the need to meet this objective was one factor detracting from effective code enforcement and more particularly with code compliance during the past five years. The result Is that today there remain a substantial number of rental units In this city that can be only classified as "dumps". Before making any specific recommendations, the Committee feels that certain factors should be recognized. (1) Earlier in this report we mentioned the recognition of a continuing demand for rental housing. Report and Recommendations of Rental Housing Committee 10/9/73 4 The existence of a continuing demand necessarily indicates that the problem areas will change from day to day and from year to year. That being the case it seems obvious that we must keep abreast of these problems in order to be able to deal effectively with them. (2) Since shelter is a basic necessity of life, it then becomes a matter of public interest to see that all people In Bangor have the opportunity to live In decent, safe and sanitary housing at a rental rate that they can afford. (3) Government at all levels must work together to meet this goal, but Government has no business In areas where the pCvate sector can do the )ob. The private sector cannot provide decent, safe and sanitary housing if the tenants cannot afford to pay a fair rent. likewise, Government has no business providing housing to a market that can afford to pay that fair rent. (4) Intertwined with the problem of housing are a myriad of social problems that must be faced, such as establishing a line of communication between landlords and tenants without fear of reprisal or harassment directed to each other, the obligations on the part of tenants to respect the property they rent, assuming that the landlord maintain a decent apartment, avoiding the creation of ghetto areas and providing some real sense of community, to ca'rental housing neighborhoods. It takes more than decent housing and Government regulations to solve such problems. Report and Recommendations of Rental Housing Comndttee 10/9/73 5 (5) By way of general observation, this Committee found that some of the Information available to it during the Past month was superficial at best and while symptomatic of many problems, was insufficient to give us the necessary details to precisely define those problem areas. Finally, based upon our review of the information available to us, the Committee makes the following specific recommendations. (1) That this Committee continue as a standing committee of the City Council to deal with matters related to housing and code enforcement. (2) That the City Council enact an ordinance providing for the licensing of rental housing, similar to the draft introduced before the Council under Ordinance No. 30-Z on November 22, 1971, which In addition to the provisions contained therein, would also require that the applicants Indicate the rental charged as of the date of filing and also require that any future Increases In rental rates be filed prior to their effective date, together with a statement of the reason for the increase. (3) That the Cade Enforcement Departmem of the City of Bangor be re -organized and additional personnel added if necessary to provide for (1) the administration of the licensing of rental housing. (2) stepped up enforcement of the Codes and Ordinances particularly in connection with that segment of substandard housing unite which are not fit for human habitation. Report and Recommendations of Rental Housing Commleces 10/9/73 5 (9) Closer cooperation with public welf are agency, outside of our own City government, to insure that existing substandard housing units are not used as relocation resources for persons outside the City even though In their existing circumstances such relocation might he an improvement. (5) Investigation of existing and future Instances of enormous rental Increases to determine If they are justified or whether they constitute a violation of the rent profiteering statute. (6) To take all steps necessary through our Public Housing Authority to secure some or all of those Capehart units presently owned by the Air Force and scheduled to be sold privately, in order that they can be diverted, along with that Capehart housing presently owned by the University of Maine, if available, to some form of subsidized housing. In the opinion of our Committee there Is no reason why the preceeding six recommendations cannot be implemented immedla:ely. It would seem appropriate that the Committee make some recommenda- tions regarding the desirability of a rent control ordinance, since this was one of the reasons for the formation of the Committee. Mrs would recommend against the enactment of any rent control ordinance at this time for the following reasons. (a) Although many complaints involving rent Increases were brouc4t to the attention of our Committee, there were only a few involving two or three landlords which appeared to be way out of line. Many complaints were associated with the Air Force owned section of Capehart, and the remainder involved people who are in need of some type of rent subsidization. Report and Recommendations of the Rental Housing Ctvsmdtee 10/9/73 7 (b) The information presently available to the Committee does not provide an adequate basis for recommending a rent control ordinance. This is one of the reasons for requiring the filing of rental rates and changes in those miss under the proposed licensing ordinance so that that information will be available in the future on a continuing basis. (c) Our best estimate indicated that the cost of administering a rent control ordinance would add somewhere between $30,000 and $90,000 to the annual budget of the City. (d) Finally, the Information gathered under the rental housing licensing ordinance will better enable us now or in the future to determine If Rent Control is necessary. In addition to the recommendations which we have already made, the Committee would make the further observatiom A substantial number of people now and in the future will be unable to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing without some form of subsidy. The Bangor Public Housing Authority, In cooperation with the Maine Housing Authority and Federal Agencies, should be encouraged to take whatever steps are necessary to meet this problem. At the same time the private sector must also be encouraged to meet the continuing demand for housing which it can provide. We cannot expect to encourage either the private or public sector to develop new rental housing and at the same time, through zoning, unreasonably restrict its location. Report and Recommendations of the Rental Housing Cc nittee 10/9/73 Finally, this Committee considers Its work to date only a start. Respectfully submitted, RENTAL HOUSING COMMITTEE ,Cha�a. Thomas E. Needham, Chairman aures S. Henderson, Member BTU TENANTS SURVEY - SUM1,IARY I. New Capehart - approximately 40 Air Force housing complaints, primarily rental rates if. Bangor Housing Authority - c. 20 complaints Ill. Old Capehart - Private A. 37 complaints B. Detail of rent Increases reported: (since 1/11/73) Monthly Rate Change % Number $157-183 ($26) 16.5 14 147-167 ($20) 13.5 8 134-160 ($26) 19.5 2 193-232 ($39) 20.0 2 124-144 ($20) 14.0 2 150-175 ($25) 17.0 2 194-271 ($77) 40.0 1 153-176 ($23) 15.0 1 $20 1 some increase" i "some reduction" 1 193-180 13 -7.0 2 Averages: $25 15% 37 Average increase $25 Average percent increase 15% N. Out of town complaints 40 cases V. Trailer park complaints 3 cases V1. Other Bangor community complaints c. 115 Detail of non -rent complaints (approximate frequency)_ Code violations 25 Deposit, no refund 10 Evictions 27 No heat, hot water 17 Rate 5 Harassment 5 Other scattered complaints: Rents too high or Increase too much: 50 complaints VI. Bangor community rent increase detail A. landlord %'s property Monthly Rate Change Percent $ 75-100 ($25) 33 60-125 ($65) 108 130-150 ($20) is 90-115 ($25) 28 95-125 ($30) 32 100-125 ($25) 25 70-135 ($65) 93 65-125 ($60) 92 50=130 $80 160 Averages: $44 65% $ 75-100 ($25) 33% 75-100 ($25) 33 55- 65 ($10) 18 80-125 ($45) 18 135-165 ($30) 22 60-100 ($40) 67 70- 75 ($ 5) 7 100-130 ($30) 30 100-105 ($ 5) 5 90-110 ($20) 22 90-115 ($25) 28 80-100 ($20) 25 125-.50 ($25) 20 55- 65 ($10) 18 60- 84 ($24) 40 120-_75 ($55) 46 80-:70 ($90) 112 100-C40 ($40) 40 180-200 ($20) 11 100-140 ($40) 40 75- 85 ($10) 13 80- 90 ($10) 12 50-100 ($50) 100 150-175 ($25) 17 130-150. 20 15 Averages $31 32% In addition: two reports of rent increases of $25 one report of a rent increase of $50 VII. Combined Averages: Average rent Increase: $30 or 28%